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Lehtonen placed on IR; Bachman & Wathier recalled

by
Staff Writer
/ Dallas Stars

Lehtonen

FRISCO, Texas – The Dallas Stars announced today that the NHL club has placed goaltender Kari Lehtonen on injured reserve and recalled goaltender Richard Bachman as well as forward Francis Wathier from the Texas Stars, Dallas’ primary affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL).

Lehtonen, 28, suffered a lower body injury on Nov. 26 in the game against the Phoenix Coyotes. The 6-4, 217-pound goaltender leads the NHL with 13 wins and has compiled an overall record of 13-4-1 with a 2.35 goals against average (GAA) and a .926 save percentage (SV%) in his 19 appearances this season.

The Helsinki, Finland native has registered a .920 SV%-or-higher in 12 of his 19 contests and was named the NHL’s, “Second Star of October,” where he posted an 8-1-0 record with a .947 SV% and a 1.75 GAA.

Bachman

Bachman (pronounced BAWK-mahn) has a 7-5-1 record earning a 3.13 GAA and a .887 SV% in 15 contests for Texas this season. The Salt Lake City, Utah native appeared in a career-high 55 games for Texas in 2010-11, posting a 28-19-5 record with a .927 SV% and a 2.20 GAA. He played in his first and only NHL game last season, appearing in relief on Dec. 11, 2010 against the Phoenix Coyotes where he surrendered zero goals on four shots in 9:35 of play.

Wathier (pronounced WATH-ee-ay) has skated in 19 games for the Texas Stars this season, posting five goals and seven assists totaling 12 points while earning a team leading plus/minus rating of +3. The 6-4, 218-pound forward has gone scoreless in his eight career games with the Dallas Stars, posting an even-or-plus rating in six of the contests. The St. Isidore, Ontario native was Dallas’ sixth-round selection (185th overall) in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

The Dallas Stars will play the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night at 8 p.m. CT at Pepsi Center (TV: Fox Sports Southwest, Radio:1310 The Ticket).